A Step Back
by Falneou17
Summary: The days have not been kind to her, and Yamabuki Saaya is forced to push herself to keep up her usual front of helping everybody around her. But even the strongest people have their breaking points somewhere, and the question remains: will Saaya figure out that she's at her limit or will she collapse in exhaustion? May contains spoilers for S01E07.


**The hardest part about writing for this franchise is that there are hardly any fanworks for BanG Dream! as of yet… so let's see how well this one will turn out, shall we?**

 **This oneshot may contain spoilers up to episode 7.**

 **I do not own BanG Dream! I also do not intend to pretend that I own BanG Dream! in any way, shape or form.**

* * *

Saaya let out a sigh, her gaze slowly moving to the direction of her siblings' joyous laughter as the cool flow of water grazed her hands. It was a nice day out, and while she was fine with spending it inside helping her mother with the daily housework, she couldn't help but let her mind wander.

What would it have been like if she could spend her time with her friends?

"Saaya, are you all right?" a soft, gentle voice came from the teenager's right, and Saaya looked up into her mother's concerned eyes. Her mother's concerned, _exhausted_ eyes.

"Mom!" Saaya exclaimed in shock, rushing over to her mother's side and gently guiding her to the living room. Saaya's mother wasn't sitting on the couch for even a full second before she slumped down, and Saaya shared the concerned look that her mother had not too long ago, "Please rest, I can take care of dinner."

"Saaya, I—" the adult tried, but was interrupted before she could finish.

"Don't worry about it, I can take care of it," Saaya said with a confident smile, making sure that her mother was well before heading back to the kitchen.

Once back, the brunette took a moment to mentally think of what to cook and what she would need. Satisfied, Saaya opened one cupboard after the other to grab the necessary ingredients and started to work.

She never minded spending most of her time at home to help with housework. As a matter of fact, Saaya knew that she would rather have this than the alternative.

A light clattering resonated through the room as the brunette felt the knife slip through her unsteady fingers. Luckily for her, the knife didn't land anywhere near her, but it still left an indentation in the floor to mark the spot where it did.

Shaking her head lightly to get back to her senses, Saaya bent down to get the knife back before returning back to preparing the meal that she was cooking. With the joyous laughter of her younger brother and sister reaching her ears, the eldest Yamabuki continued her job with a small smile.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Saaya turned around slightly to see that her younger siblings had re-entered the house, both panting slightly after playing outside for so long.

"Jun, Sana, can you two set the table?" Saaya asked them, to which they cheered enthusiastically before getting to work.

Saaya smiled, glad that her siblings were so proactive in helping out, before she realized to her horror that the timer had been ringing for the past minute.

"Oh no!"

* * *

It was the late afternoon, and Saaya found herself staying behind in the classroom. With the cultural festival approaching fast, the class had elected her as the vice-president of the planning committee. The only problem with that was…

"Zzz… zzz…"

Saaya smiled, figuring that the president must have been overworking herself these past few days. To be fair, the brunette thought as she tried to suppress a yawn of her own, she wasn't that different from her sleeping friend.

Gently taking the piece of paper that was on the table, Saaya took her time to read over what her friend had written down already. She had to suppress a chuckle when her gaze landed on the drawing in the upper-right corner of the sheet.

Saaya was about to leave when she heard the scraping back of a chair on wood.

"Saa…ya…?" a drowsy voice came from behind said brunette, prompting her to turn around to see her classmate rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she sat up.

"It's getting late, we should probably call it a day," Saaya announced as she looked out the window, the sun was already starting its decent below the horizon and, with it, was dyeing the sky a warm orange. With a small smile, she added, "It looks like you could use your sleep."

"I can still go on!" Kasumi announced boldly, but the credibility of the exclamation was questioned when it was followed by a big yawn. Almost sheepishly, Kasumi tried to divert the attention away from her, "Why do you have to go so soon?"

"I… can't stay out late…" Saaya trailed off while looking away. She didn't want to lie, but she wasn't comfortable with telling the complete truth to her yet, either. She let out a small breath of relief when she saw the smile on her friend's face, and added, "I'll see what I can do tonight and will come back to you tomorrow."

"All right, see you tomorrow!" Kasumi cheered as she grabbed her bag and dashed out of the classroom after petting Saaya on the shoulder.

Saaya smiled as she watched her figure disappear, a strange and unfamiliar feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. She was about to head home as well when she saw the state that the classroom was in.

A cold gust of wind blew in from the open window and caused a shiver to run down Saaya's spine as she felt it hit her exposed arms.

"Clean up and get home…" Saaya muttered to herself as she closed the window with one hand while rubbing her arm with the other. With a deep sigh, the brunette started to clean up after her friend.

It wasn't until the sun had set completely that the teenager deemed the room clean enough to leave it and go home.

* * *

The clock read ten-thirty and Saaya couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. She tossed and turned endlessly, but she would always end up in an uncomfortable position and be unable to fall asleep as a result.

Finally, after about ten minutes of this, Saaya gave up and ended up just lying on her bed, her hair sprawled around and covering the area of the pillow. She let out a sigh, disappointed that she was feeling exhausted but unable to find the sleep that she so desperately needed.

With the light of the moon shining through the slight crack of the curtains, the brunette sat up in her bed. Allowing the blanket to slide off of her, Saaya suppressed a shiver as she took the thermometer beside her bed.

She didn't really need to see the blinking numbers a few seconds later to confirm what she already knew all along. The shock, however, came when she realized that she was over a full degree above what she was expecting to be.

Groaning, Saaya ignored the throbbing pain in her head as she turned around, her gaze landing on the stack of papers that she brought home. Luckily for her, she managed to finish all her homework before the fever hit, but she still had to get started on the paperwork for the cultural festival.

"A promise is a promise…" Saaya muttered to herself as she pulled herself out of bed with a lot of difficulty. Once her feet hit the floor, Saaya started to regret her decision, but still stubbornly made her way to the desk. She was determined to do some of the paperwork to relieve some stress off her friend.

Unfortunately, she may have overestimated herself a bit. Her vision was blurry, barely able to read the letters on the sheet of paper, and she felt the world spin soon after reaching the desk. It wasn't long when the last thing that Saaya registered was the dull but still recognizable sound resonating through the room.

And then everything turned black…

* * *

 _"Is she …?"_

 _"She will be. She just … too much. After … she should be … new."_

 _"That's a relief."_

Saaya heard the distinct sound of people talking, and while she knew that they sounded familiar she couldn't recognize who the voices belonged to.

The next thing that Saaya's brain processed was the warmth spreading through her body. But unlike the last time that she was conscious, where the warmth was almost suffocating, this time it was welcoming and comforting.

It was nice.

 _"I think she's awake!"_

All for enjoying the comfort of wherever she was.

Stirring slightly, Saaya tried to sit up in bed but was forcefully stopped when she felt two hands on either shoulder pushing her back down.

 _"Hold it! You need your rest!"_

"Where—? How—?" Saaya stuttered, her eyes opening slowly and trying to make out the two blurry figures in front of her. Even though it took a while for her to register who they were, Saaya couldn't help but be surprised when she finally did, "Kasumi? What are you—?"

"I was worried about you!" Kasumi exclaimed, interrupting Saaya without a second thought, "You didn't come to school today!"

"School—?" Saaya echoed slowly, trying to process what she had just been told. Her eyes widened in recognition when it finally hit her and she nearly jumped up.

She would have if Kasumi didn't have a vice-like grip on her shoulders and kept her in place.

"Why?"

"Huh?" Saaya looked up, caught off guard and waiting in anticipation for her classmate to elaborate on her point.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kasumi asks, almost desperately as she looked at Saaya, unwilling to break eye contact in a desperate effort to emphasize how important this was to her, "Why didn't you say that you were not feeling well and push yourself too much?"

Saaya didn't know how to respond. She had never been in this situation before, but she also wasn't ready to answer truthfully yet.

"You wouldn't understand…"

Saaya turned her head away from Kasumi, choosing to stare at the wall to her right instead. She didn't want to hurt her friend by telling her the truth, but she also couldn't bear to lie to her face.

It was then, much to Saaya's surprise, that she felt the pair of arms encircle her and hold in her warm embrace.

"Kasumi?" Saaya breathed out, not knowing how else to respond to the sudden change in Kasumi's actions and unsure whether or not to return the hug in kind.

Kasumi held her position for half a minute before slowly letting go of the still confused Saaya.

"You don't have to do everything alone," Kasumi smiled as she stood up and picked up her bag before turning back to Saaya one last time, "I should probably head home and get the paperwork done. Make sure you get enough rest tonight!"

And having said what she wanted to say, without even waiting for a response from Saaya herself, Kasumi skipped out of the room. Saaya couldn't help but smile at the retreating figure of her friend, and switched her gaze to her lap once her friend was fully out of sight.

"I'm glad that you have friends like Kasumi."

With a slight shock, Saaya looked up to see that her mother had walked in the room, a tray full of different pastries and a steaming cup of tea. Saaya smiled, for once not commenting on the fact that her mother was doing so much physical work and enjoyed the smell that greeted her.

"I'm glad as well."

* * *

 **And that wraps up this quick little oneshot; I hope you all enjoyed it! Now more than ever, please leave a review to let me know what you thought, and I wish everybody a good morning/afternoon/evening/night!**


End file.
